Abstract
Introduction and hypothesisUrinary incontinence (UI) has a potentially devastating effect on women’s quality of life (QoL). Conservative treatment by means of pelvic floor muscle training is the first-choice treatment modality. Nowadays, this can be supported by digital apps like pelvina©—a digital health companion pelvic floor course.MethodsUsing pelvina©, UI symptoms and QoL are regularly examined through the questionnaires QUID and SF-6D. Subsequently, we analyzed the incidence and degree of UI and its impact on QoL in 293 users in a real-world environment.ResultsThe 293 patients included in this study had a median age of 36 years and a median of two children. Patients were slightly to moderately affected by UI with a QUID of 6 (2–11, maximum 24). Age and number of children were independently associated with the incidence of UI with an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 1.06 (95% CI 1.01–1.12) and aOR of 1.86 (95% CI 1.12–3.08). The severity of UI strongly correlated with impairment of QoL (ρ = 0.866, P < 0.001).ConclusionsThe use of real-world data generated by digital health solutions offers the opportunity to gain insight into the reality of patients’ lives. In this article, we corroborate the known associations between number of children and UI as well as the great influence UI has on QoL. This study shows that, in the future, the use of digital apps can make an important contribution to scientific data acquisition and, for example, therapy monitoring.
Highlights
Introduction and hypothesisUrinary incontinence (UI) has a potentially devastating effect on women’s quality of life (QoL)
UI can be divided into stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and urgency urinary incontinence (UUI)
As pelvina© is a tool focusing on the prevention of pelvic floor weakness by training and providing information and as the number of deliveries—especially the number of vaginal deliveries— represents a major risk for acquired pelvic floor weakness, the question arose as to how well the patients had already been informed about the dysfunction of pelvic floor weakness
Summary
Introduction and hypothesisUrinary incontinence (UI) has a potentially devastating effect on women’s quality of life (QoL). Conservative treatment by means of pelvic floor muscle training is the first-choice treatment modality. Nowadays, this can be supported by digital apps like pelvina©—a digital health companion pelvic floor course. We corroborate the known associations between number of children and UI as well as the great influence UI has on QoL. Munich, Germany female continence mechanism (urinary and fecal) and/or pelvic organ support. It is common in women, especially with advancing age [1]. The definition of PFD in women is usually limited to include only urinary incontinence (UI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP). In SUI, physical exertion can be associated with urinary loss. Increased intra-abdominal pressure triggered by physical exertion increases intravesical pressure, and if it exceeds the intraurethral pressure in the absence of
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